The Resurgence of Oral Storytelling: the Audio Book
Storytellers have shaped our societies and reflected our cultures for all of recorded history
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The Greatest Science Fiction Novels of All Time Part 12
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time. Kate Wilhelm is one of the cornerstones of the science fiction industry, and many consider this her best work.
Space Shuttle First Flights: John Aaron (Error-Free Code?)
NASA required IBM’s Space Shuttle software to be delivered “error-free”. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the likelihood of that was extremely low.
Unknown Burroughs, or: Never Mind John Carter of Mars, What About the Mucker?
A handful of novels by ER Burroughs have not received the same attention as some other works
Report on Chinese Nebula 2014
A complete con and awards report from mainland China; a deep glimpse into worldwide fandom. (Check out the awards for some English language works in translation)
Space Shuttle First Flights: Phil Shaffer (Again)
During the Apollo Program, NASA’s Phil Shaffer had subjected me to what I’d describe today as a version of “Shark Tank”. I wasn’t looking forward to presenting to him again on Shuttle.
Amazingly Enough: Lost And Found – The Triumph Of Mr. Monck Mason’s Flying Machine!
Edgar Allan Poe’s Great Balloon Hoax
The 1956 Worldcon Blues, or: My Mom Wouldn’t Let Me Go ‘Cause I Was Only Five
Do you collect Worldcon Program Books? I do, which is very odd, because I’ve never been to a Worldcon.
OUR HALLOWEEN TRADITION
Continuing a Halloween tradition – the airing of Mercury Theater’s production of The War of the Worlds
Marvel Comics “Worlds Unknown” of Known Science Fiction, or: A Good Idea Gone Flopnik?
What’s not to like? You got your alien monster, your alien ruins, your sophisticated space science gizmos, your overall 1950s retro look and art style. Perfect. Exactly what I want in SF comic art, or “graphic art” as they say nowadays.
Space Shuttle First Flights: Ten Pounds in a Five Pound Sack
The first version of the Shuttle flight software had two serious problems: it couldn’t fit in the computer, and it ran way too slow. IBM was two years into the contract and basically nothing worked. All hell broke loose.
No Hack, but Lots of Slash: An interview with M. Harold Page
An interview with house husband and practicing swordsman, M. Harold Page.
On Being a Space Cadet, or: Why It is Never Too Late to Join the Academy
We’re ALL Space Cadets…and now we can wear the name proudly
The Greatest Science Fiction Novels of All Time Part 11
One author gets onto the list a second time!
Spooky London
Ever since Count Dracula arrived in London aboard the Demeter, London has been a spooky place.
Just Imagine a Classic Science Fiction Film? Or: a Classic Lack of Imagination?
Just imagine there exists a 1930 film portraying the future world of 1980, a future where people no longer have names, but have numbers instead, like J21, LN18, etc. In this film, the state decrees […]
Amazingly Enough: Lost And Found – Down The Drain
LOST: ONE FRESHWATER LAKE. BLUE IN COLOR. LAST SEEN IN IBERIA PARISH, LOUISIANA, 1980.
ABSOLUTE ZERO: Cool Websites (Very Cool): 70s Sci-Fi Art
A gallery of science fiction art from the 70s
Space Shuttle First Flights: Bob Crippen and Dick Truly – Working with Astronauts
Hearing about the near-legendary competence of NASA astronauts was one thing, seeing it in action was humbling. Bob Crippen and Dick Truly, the two I got to work with on Space Shuttle, were the most impressive professionals I’ve met.
Aelita, Queen of Mars, or: Redder Than You Think
Watch the soviet era SF film that Stalin hated!
The Thespian Thesiger–A Lost Icon
When one usually hears the words “Universal Horror” many names quickly come to mind. The first, and most obvious, names are Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Other famous actors that might pop into heads are […]
Alien Ruins Good Enough For You? Or, Why Ruins Keep Getting Ruined.
I am a sucker for Sci-Fi movies, art and literature featuring either alien ruins or ruins of a collapsed human society
How Big is a Book?
How big is a book? SF & Fantasy books were slim volumes in wire racks until market forces created the massive tomes we’re used to today. What happened?
The Time Machine Destination
Society would do well to heed science fiction’s prophetic visions.
Space Shuttle First Flights: Engineering the Onboard Software
By comparison to the Space Shuttle, Apollo was a Model-T Ford – no set of computer-controlled spaceship operations like this had ever been attempted. Nothing that got us to the Moon could be reused here, and so it was discarded.
About Author
M. D. Jackson has been drawing since he could first hold a pencil. He has been writing for so long that he has, in fact, developed an alternate personality named Jack to handle the fiction.
His work has appeared in numerous magazines and on the front covers of many books as well as in the pages of Amazing Stories Magazine. You can also see a lot of it at his gallery.
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